Publications

Jurisdictions With Marriage Equality

• California (estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who married in 2008 remain married but marriage limited to different-sex couples after November 5, 2008, by Proposition 8)
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Iowa
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New York
• Rhode Island, effective Aug. 1, 2013
• Vermont
• Washington

States That Give the Benefits and Responsibilities of Marriage but With a Label of Inferiority Such as Civil Union or Domestic Partnership

• California - Broad Domestic Partnership Law
• Colorado - Civil Union Law
• Delaware - Civil Union Law 
• Hawaii - Civil Union Law 
• Illinois - Civil Union Law
• Nevada - Broad Domestic Partnership Law
• New Jersey - Civil Union Law
• Oregon - Broad Domestic Partnership Law
• Rhode Island - Civil Union Law
• Washington - Broad Domestic Partnership Law for Senior Couples

States That Give Some or Many Protections With Statewide Non-Marriage Laws Such as Domestic Partnership, Reciprocal Beneficiary or Other Laws

• Colorado - Designated Beneficiary Agreements Law
• Hawaii - Reciprocal Beneficiaries Law
• Maine - Limited Domestic Partnership Law 
• Maryland - Limited Domestic Partnership Law
• Vermont - Reciprocal Beneficiaries Law
• Wisconsin - Limited Domestic Partnership Law

States That Respect Out-of-State-Marriages of Same-Sex Couples

• California (by statute, pre-November 5, 2008, marriages honored as marriages and later out-of-state marriages treated as registered domestic partnerships)
• Delaware (out-of-state marriages treated as civil unions)
• Hawaii (out-of-state marriages treated as civil unions)
• Illinois (out-of-state marriages treated as civil unions)
• New Jersey (out-of-state marriages treated as civil unions)
• New Mexico (per Attorney General opinion but not confirmed by court)
• Rhode Island (out-of-state marriages treated as civil unions)

States That Give Limited Domestic Partnership Benefits to State Employees (Not Including States Listed in Prior Categories That Provide Broader Protections)

• Alaska
• Arizona (eliminated by state budget vote in 2010, but continued by court order in Lambda Legal’s Diaz v. Brewer lawsuit)
• Montana
• New Mexico (listed here because Attorney General opinion not yet confirmed by court)

Additional resource:

Examples of States That Provide Benefits to Same-Sex Partners of State Employees

States with Constitutional Amendments Empowering Legislature to Restrict Marriage

• Hawaii

Additional resource:

Text of State Constitutional Amendments Targeting Same-Sex Relationships

States With Constitutional Amendments Restricting Marriage

Additional resource: Read the laws themselves.

Text of State Constitutional Amendments Targeting Same-Sex Relationships